Page 82 of Soulmates
What are the odds the vampire has a packet of teabags?I’m going to say slim to none, but Connor will think of something. Abby volunteers to help with beverages, leaving me and Mom alone. She comes closer to the window, though not necessarily to me. “What he did hurt every one of us, and for that alone, I would see him punished.”
“That’s my plan.”
She moves closer to the window and pulls the drape out of the way, exposing the strip of flickering gold the sun has cast across the water. “A mother grizzly will kill a man if she feels her cub is threatened.”
I don’t respond. I shut my eyes instead, trying to focus on how good it feels to be in her presence, instead of how bad it hurts. We stand together in silence. I figure that being here is her way of defending her cub. I don’t know how long she plans to stay, and it occurs to me she might have an answer to one of my Problems.
“I’m not worried about beating Uncle Brendan. I’ve seen his wolf and I’ve seen him fight, and I can take him.” Saying the words out loud gives me the confidence to keep going. “Is it possible for me to shift with—”
Connor and Abby return, and damned if he doesn’t have a small steaming teapot and a mug. He and Abby have bottles of seltzer, and he brought me some water. Connor and I take the big chairs and give Mom and Abby the couch. Sitting near them makes me ache in a new way, so I start babbling to cover up the pain.
I ask Abby about school and some of our mutual friends and what band is playing where. Mom sips her tea like it’s a meditation, and Connor bolsters me by his presence alone.
Abby’s going on about a new club that’s opening in June when Mom interrupts her. “I’ve never met one of the Old Ones before.”
Abby and I glance at each other, a nonverbal convo that says we’re both confused. I look away, blinking at the flash of grief that ordinary moment gives me. It’s like a dead person has come back to life. I want to act like things are normal, but she’ll leave, and it’ll be like she’s died again.
I’m far enough up in my own head that at first I don’t catch Connor’s reaction. I blink into the sudden silence and realize he’s gone rigid. Mom is sipping her tea, her attention inward, while Abby’s glancing between the two of them.
Who’d said what, now?I play back the last thing I remember. Something about the Old Ones.Aw shit.Maybe he’s not just a phouka. Either way, “We are not here for that.”
“What?” Abby’s eyes grow wider.
“Do you hear me, Mom? New subject.”
She raises her chin. “As you wish.”
“Thank you.”
Connor doesn’t say anything, but he gets up and walks into the kitchen. Abby’s got her lips pressed together as if it’s the only way she can keep from asking what’s going on. Mom’s in la-la land and I decide a major topic change is in order. “How long are you two staying?”
Abby grins, going along with it. “Till after you and Uncle Brendan…”
Wow.“That’s amazing, but can you leave your house for so long, Mom?”
They both smile. “She’s got most of it with her. We rented a motor home to get down here, and we’ll stay for the duration.”
Now I really don’t know what to say. I never expected anything like this.
“Well, you need someone to be your second, don’t you?” Abby asks.
“I didn’t want to ask…”
She shrugs like she hasn’t just offered to face death on my behalf. “My wolf isn’t as badass as yours, Davey-cakes, but she’s no slouch either.”
Mom murmurs something, and we both turn to her. She sets the mug on the end table, moving deliberately as if she’s about to make some kind of pronouncement. “You must win,” is all she says, but with a fierceness that brings home exactly what’s at stake.
My life, my sister’s life, and the future of the Collins pack.
That’s a tall order for a short guy. Better get me a shmancy new pair of heels.
Because defiance is better than the alternative.
OXO
In order to go shopping, I have to ask Mom for some money. Seems getting cut out of the pack froze my bank account, a common safety feature that prevents an angry lone wolf from emptying the pack’s accounts. I might be plenty angry, and while I fit the technical definition of a lone wolf, my circumstances were…unusual.
At any rate, Sheena and I make a begging trip to the RV park. Mom’s idea of how much I might need for such a trip doesn’t exactly match mine, so Sheena decides we’ll go to Santee Alley rather than, say, Rodeo Drive.
